Hugo Baptista, one of our favorite light painters has a special way when it comes to Light Painting. Rather than free drawing he uses a computer controlled telescope mount to move the camera and create elaborate patterns from existing lights.

The process below is your path to creating this effect (assuming you own or can borrow a telescope mount):

Step 1: attach camera to motorized telescope mount (see the top photo for an example on how to do that).

Step 2: Go to the city center, shopping mall or fair in the middle of the night where there are lots of lights scattered around.

Step 3: Use the arrows in the controller to rotate the camera in two axis: Either individually or simultaneously. The camera can be rotated 90 degrees vertically to change the axis of rotation: e.g. changing from pitch+yaw to roll+yaw

Step 4: Set a narrow aperture and low ISO since this telescope mount moves relatively slowly but with excellent precision.

Step 5: Start exposure with a remote controller or use the 30 second exposure setting if you don’t have a remote.

Step 6: Keep pressing the arrows in controller to keep drawing your city like it’s an etch a sketch.

Step7: End exposure. Congratulations! Your own Etch a Sketch City.

If you like this kind of light painting, check out Hugo’s incredible Light Orbs done with this mount and an electric drill.

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Allen Mowery is a commercial and lifestyle photographer, pseudo-philosopher, and wannabe documentarian killing time amidst the rolling hills of Central Pennsylvania. When not shooting client work or chasing overgrown wildlife from his yard, he loves to capture the stories of the people and culture around him. You can check out his work on his website or follow along on Facebook, Twitter (@allenmowery), and 500px.

JP Danko is a commercial photographer based in Toronto, Canada. JP
can change a lens mid-rappel, swap a memory card while treading water, or use a camel as a light stand.

Laya Gerlock is a Portrait and Product photographer based in the Philippines. His passion is teaching and sharing his knowledge in Photograpy and has been doing this for 6 years. You can follow his work on his web page, follow him on Flickr and if you happen to come by Cubao, Quezon City (To Manila, Philippines) he gives a great workshop!

Maaz Khan started off teaching himself photography with a disposable Kodak camera he got for his 7th birthday. His main weapons of choice are now the 5D Mark II, and an LG G2 when mobility calls.

Stefan Kohler is a conceptual photographer, specialized in mixing science, technology and photography. He is one of the founders of Kamerakind, based in Traunstein, Southern Germany. You can follow him on Facebook or on 500px.com

Tiffany Mueller is a photographer based in Hawi, Hawaii. You can follow her Twitter here and her personal life here.